Chapter 1

It was far past the middle of the night, the darkest part an hour or two before dawn as Doctor Helen Magnus walked through the darkened corridors of her Sanctuary toward her study, a pile of papers in her arms, study notes from her latest 'acquisition'. Work, it was all she could do at the moment. She couldn't stop or take time off, not that she normally would have done anyway. Before though, there had been more to her life, now, nothing. It had been months since Ashley's death and hiding herself in the Sanctuary work was finally taking its toll. Helen rubbed her eyes as she walked into her study. If she hadn't been so tired she would have noticed immediately the man sitting in her chair at her desk. Waiting for her.

Magnus hesitated for a second as she saw him. John Druitt stood, ever the gentleman, as she entered the study.

"What are you doing here John?" she asked, not in the mood for a battle of wits.

"You look tired," he pointed out.

"You've been gone a long time," stated Magnus, not looking at him as she walked over to her desk and put down her papers. The framed photograph on her desk, of her and Ashley, had been moved slightly from where she had left it.

"No rest for the wicked," he smiled. Magnus gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look. "Sorry, couldn't resist."

They swapped sides of the desk, enacting a piece of their eternal dance around each other. John Druitt and Helen Magnus each stood watching the other.

"I've been thinking," began John, "About Ashley."

"She's gone John. You need to accept that," snapped Helen, shaking her head in disgust.

"Or what?" he shot back with a raised voice. "It will drive me mad?"

They glared at each other.

"What the bloody hell do you want, John?" demanded Magnus, her patience fast running out.

"I want our daughter back, I want you to hear me out and if you don't like what I have to say I'll be on my merry way."

Helen sat down feeling weary. John hesitated then sat down opposite her.

"I've been going over it again and again. I think I know what happened when Ashley teleported away from you."

He looked at Helen to make sure she was paying attention. Magnus said nothing and he continued.

"Teleporting is instinctive. You don't think you just jump. When you shot me, in London, I teleported away from the bullet, away from death, away from you, as fast as I could. And then," he cleared his throat sounding a little embarrassed. Magnus almost raised an eyebrow, enjoying his discomfort. "The second time, when you gave me the contaminated blood and I teleported…"

"Gave you the blood?" Magnus interrupted. "That's not quite how I remember it. You kidnapped Ashley and locked her in with one of the most dangerous creatures we have ever come across." She looked at him her eyes blazing. "Apart from you, of course."

"Please hear me out," Druitt asked civilly.

Magnus sighed and let go of her anger. What was the point in being angry at him. Ashley was gone and she couldn't bring herself to care about much anymore. Druitt observed her fluctuating mood and continued.

"I was disorientated and didn't know where I was going or what I was doing. I instinctively jumped to a safe place."

"Which was where exactly?"

"I'm not going to tell you, Helen," John laughed. "You'll more than likely turn up sometime and kill me in my sleep."

"Your point, John?" asked Magnus, not denying it.

"My point is. I think there may be a chance Ashley teleported away from the EM field instinctively. She would have known she faced certain death if she had gone through it. I think, I hope, she jumped away from the field as far and as hard as she could whether she knew what she was doing or not. Somewhere safe, somewhere without an electromagnetic field."

Druitt sat back and waited for Magnus' reaction. Magnus looked at the photograph on her desk and then back to John. There was a real flicker of hope in his eyes. If there was a chance, no matter how slight, of Ashley being alive she would take it. Even from a madman.

"What are you saying? Where could she have gone? We've searched every inch of this building, she's not here."

"Ashley was trapped within the electromagnetic field. She was unable to teleport to a safe place." Druitt leaned forward and looked directly into Magnus' eyes. "I think Ashley teleported to a safe time."